New patients to the practice often tell me how they came to have a chipped tooth, filling, crown, bridge or denture and sadly, when it comes to front teeth, a traumatic blow was often the source. As a team we have so much to offer to give our patients back a beautiful smile after dental injuries- from seamlessly blended composite repairs for chipped teeth to invisible braces to realign teeth moved out of line to the most complex of implant replacement for loss of many teeth and bone. However, minimising the risk of dental trauma is a must for us all, especially for our children, so the repair work is never needed.
Sports account for many dental injuries and schools and clubs are getting better at insisting on protection being worn but not all mouthguards are the same. Our custom made mouthguards are the best type to protect vulnerable teeth as they are so close fitting and so cushion against and spread the force of a blow. For those playing lots of contact sport and especially with more prominent front teeth, which are more susceptible to injury, the expense of a custom made mouthguard is offset by avoiding the huge lifelong burden of repairing or replacing a tooth or teeth.
Children, and especially boys, are much more likely to suffer injuries to teeth than the rest of us. ‘Mummyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy my blood!’ wailed my 4 year old during a sunny Easter holiday play session in the park, as he emerged from the bushes bleeding rather a lot from his head. Adrenaline pumping I mopped his face and found a small but deep gash in his forehead from running into a low branch. Emergency dental treatments at A&E were amazing but for similar injuries to teeth-bleeding and needing urgent attention-a dentist appointment is needed as soon as possible. Our emergency on call service is available out of hours to our patients for this exact reason. For fractured and loosened teeth we can provide protective repairs for the tooth nerve and immediate splinting for support. Things to remember before you get to us are-any adult tooth knocked out should be either put back in the hole if possible, in the cheek to bathe in saliva or in milk always avoiding touching the root of the tooth. Then get straight to us if there is no more serious injury which take priority. Baby teeth are best not put back in to give the adult teeth the best chance of being unaffected.
One final thought having treated many little tinies with bumps to their teeth- it is much less stressful for them when they already know the practice and have had regular check ups so as soon as those first baby teeth appear bring them along- under 5s get free checks with us when Mum or Dad are registered patients!